The trial of two people from Bath over the alleged murder of Tashan Corpe continues today.

Josh Farnham, 31, and Rachael Smith, 43, have denied the charges against them in relation to the death of the 27-year-old man last year.

Farnham, of Old Fosse Road, Odd Down , was charged with murder after Mr Corpe was wounded and died at his home in Sedgemoor Road, Foxhill , on Sunday, August 13, 2017. He was also charged with wounding Mr Corpe's brother, Devon Corpe.

Smith, of Sedgemoor Road, was accused of helping Farnham flee the scene.

The accused pair will appear in Bristol Crown Court again today (Monday, February 12) for day four of the trial.

Our reporter is in court to bring you updates from proceedings as they happen.

The Chronicle runs a WhatsApp group to help you keep up to date with the latest news and is launching a separate WhatsApp broadcast for people interested in following news from the Foxhill murder trial.

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Murder accused couldn't save Tashan Corpe of Foxhill

That's it for today in court

The case will resume tomorrow morning at 10.30am with the closing statements from the prosecution and the defence.

We’ll have a summary of the morning session and afternoon session shortly.

15:14KEY EVENT

Farnham's evidence finishes

That’s the end of the evidence from Farnham. The defence has finished their case.

Mr Binder, Rachael Smith’s defence, says she will not be taking the stand.

That means we have heard all the evidence in the case. The jury are now being told they can go home for the day and will need to return for 10am tomorrow. The prosecution and the defence are now discussing the legal directions for the jury with the Judge Simler.

15:10

Farnham denies washing the knife

Mrs Vigars asks Farnham whether he left Rachael alone to go into Tesco and three separate pubs. He says that this was the case.

He says she was looking for his uncle, as he thought he could help come up with “a plan of action”.

Farnham says he didn’t threaten her and he didn’t threaten her family. He also says he wasn’t violent towards her, but admits: “I probably would have been frightening to her because of the state I was in. I was scared.”

He says he picked the knife up in the course of the attack, but adds that he dropped it before he was driven back into Paul Thurston’s flat.

He denies taking the knife and washing it in the sink. “It’s strange she [Mrs Vigars] is suggesting that I took the knife from the flat, but no one saw me with the knife in the flat.”

15:01

"I knew it was bad but I didn't know he was dead at that point"

“I stayed with Tashan for five minutes. Although it might have seemed longer because of the scenario I was in,” says Farnham, after the stabbing.

“You knew at that stage that Tashan was at least seriously, injured or probably dead,” Mrs Vigars, prosecuting, says.

Farnham tells the court: “I was unsure, I knew it was bad but I didn’t know he was dead at that point.”

He is then asked by Mrs Vigars why he assaulted his sister Louisianna Santillo as he left Selworthy House.

I came out and she was grabbing me, asking what is going on, and I just pushed her out of the way. We don’t get on well at the best of times. I wasn’t interested in what she was saying.

Farnham says he grabbed Rachael by the arm and left the scene.

When asked why he left, he says: “I didn’t know if Devon would attack me again. I just wanted to get out of there.

He is asked whether he thought he had done anything wrong. “At the time, no I didn’t think I had done anything wrong,” he tells the court.

It wasn’t until I saw Tashan that I was like ‘oh my god that was me’. It dawned on me.

Mrs Vigars asked whether he wanted to tell the police what had happened. “No I didn’t,” he says.

I have a big mistrust for everything you lot stand for. The police and the CPS.

He says he was advised not to say anything in the police interview. “Even in the incidents in the past I have come to court and told the truth. I was found guilty then even though I told the truth.”

14:49

“You can’t describe what happened exactly as it didn’t happen that way"

Devon and Tashan did not come back into the flat, says Farnham, the stabbing happened outside the flat.

“Why did you not kick the knife away?” Mrs Vigars asks.

“I can’t answer, I wish I did,” he responds. “It happened in seconds, I wasn’t thinking.

He adds: “As I picked the knife up, they started attacking me.”

I take full responsibility for his injuries, but not for killing him. I didn’t intentionally try to stab him.

Mrs Vigars says: “You can’t describe what happened exactly as it didn’t happen that way. You took the knife from Paul Thurston’s flat and first went at Devon and then when he fended you off you went for Tashan.” Farnham denies this.

“You were aware you stabbed Tashan, you then went into the kitchen area and tried to wash the knife.” Farnham also denies this.

14:36KEY EVENT

Farnham picked up the knife consciously

Farnham says Tashan was holding a lump of wood. “He hit me with it on the shoulder the first time.”

Farnham admits he consciously picked the knife up.

“How do you get to a stage where you lifted the knife up so you could bring it down into Tashan’s chest?”, Mrs Vigars asks. “It didn’t happen that way, but it happened so fast,” says Farnham.

“It went 10cm into him and that means you had to pull it out 10cm,” Mrs Vigars continues.

Farnham says he was driven back into the flat by the brothers, around five or six steps.

“It’s not true, is it?” says Mrs Vigars. “The incident took place outside the door flat and it stayed outside the door of the flat.”

Farnham agrees the incident took place outside the door of the flat but he says he was then driven back into the flat. He went back in by himself.

14:24

"I was a bit bemused" says Farnham

Before Farnham got into fight with the Corpe brothers, he says he went to the kitchen to get a glass to try some whiskey Devon brought. This was after Farnham had put Paul Thurston in a sleeper hold.

He denies breaking the glass in order to attack the Corpe brothers and says it happened before the fight broke out – it wasn’t deliberate.

Mrs Vigars says Farnham didn’t have a black eye from the punches he received from Tashan and Devon. He says he was protecting his face with his arms.

She says he suffered a broken nose and bruising to his ear, but no split lip.

Mrs Vigars asks Farnham whether he was angry at being hit. “No I wasn’t angry. I was a bit bemused. We went from playing around to being hit quite quickly.” He adds that he was annoyed.

He says they did bring a knife to the flat. He denies that he came at them with the knife out of the flat.

I didn’t know they had been stabbed. It happened so fast. I take full responsibility for his injuries but I didn’t know it happened at the time.

Talking about Devon’s injury, Farnham says his injury would be a lot worse if he went to stab him intentionally.

He agrees he would have had to lift his hand up to stab Tashan where he did. Mrs Vigars says it was a downward motion and shows Farnham the body map.

14:04

We're back underway

The afternoon session has now begun, with Mrs Vigars, prosecuting, continuing to question Farnham.

14:03

Another incident involving Farnham

Sorry for the delay - connection issues again. Just before lunch, Mrs Vigars, prosecuting, told the court about another incident involving Farnham on April 7, 2007, when he was in a club with his then girlfriend.

She says he grabbed Mr Morrisey by his hair, to which Farnham says: “I grabbed him by the back of his shirt as she [his girlfriend] was uncomfortable as he was all over her.”

Mrs Vigars says Farnham was told by his girlfriend to “stop being stupid”, but he denies she said this. He addes: “It’s incorrect, it seems you have thrown this together.” Mrs Vigars says this is from the witness statements from the case.

She says he then picked up a half pint glass, smashed it and swung it at Mr Morrisey’s face. Farnham says it was one swing and he didn’t break the glass first. He says he caused him injury with an unbroken glass. He admits he also injured Annabel Keats as he swung at Mr Morrisey in the same motion.

I caught Mr Morrisey on the side of the face and then caught her, before I ended up on the floor. I was drunk.

Mrs Vigars repeats: “Do you have a problem with you temper?” No, Farnham responds. “It’s under control even when you’re drinking?” Yes.

I’m not proud of my teenage years, I did some things I’m not proud of.

Mrs Vigars says he was 21 at the time, not a teenager.

Farnham says he moved his possessions out of Rachael’s as they were arguing, but he went back to Rachael’s the night before the incident.

The day of Tashan’s death he says he took Valium when Devon came around.

I had taken Cocaine the night before and I took Valium to level myself off from the cocaine the night before.

He adds he took it to calm down. He says he was fine, but he hadn’t slept much. He says he didn’t have a hangover. He says he was “wired”. He says he took 8-10 Valium tablets – it wasn’t his prescription.

13:54

"Do you have a problem with your temper?"

Mrs Vigars, prosecuting asks Farnham: “Do you have a problem with your temper?” He says he does not.

She asks him about an incident with Vincent Kent. Mrs Vigars says Farnham hit Mr Kent twice after the victim has asked the landlord to put music on in a pub they were both in. “You hit him to the back of the head,” she says.

I did hit him twice but it didn’t happen as he said.

Mrs Vigars now tells the court about another previous incident involving Susan Heels. She says he got into her house and punched her partner.

“I went into the house downstairs, but I didn’t go upstairs,” Farnham responds. He also denies hitting her partner.

The court hears that Miss Heels then went across into the Wansdyke pub and Farnham followed her. He says he didn’t know she would be in there but he agrees that he did go into the pub.

“You picked up a pool cue and hit her with it,” Mrs Vigars says. He confirms he hit her twice in the arm, when Mrs Vigars puts it to him that he hit her repeatedly with the pool cue. “She suffered pain and bruising to her back,” Mrs Vigars continues.

Farnham says it is “fabrication” by the prosecution, but Mrs Vigars says they are the agreed facts. He says he doesn’t agree with them.

He agrees he broke her arm with a pool cue after she had run away to the pub.

13:38

Updates to follow

A few connection problems from the courtroom - but we’ll have an update on proceedings for you shortly.

12:50

ICYMI

If you’ve missed what’s happened so far on the first three days, you can catch up with our live blogs below.

Almost ready to get going again

We’re just waiting for the judge and jury to return before Mrs Vigars, prosecuting, starts her cross-examination of Farnham.

12:25

It was "pandemonium" in the car, says Farnham

Farnham asked to go to his aunt’s in the Hilperton Marsh area of Trowbridge. He says it was “pandemonium” in the car and he was not initially aware it was running low on fuel.

He says Rachael didn’t know how Tashan had been hurt. They had discussed how much blood there was and Farnham was at times shouting in the car about what had happened.

At least one point on the journey, Farnham says he attempted to throw up out the window. He also tried to clear the blood out of his nose through the window.

They got to Trowbridge but Farnham didn’t know how to get to his aunt’s address. Rachael’s mother lives in Hilperton so they decided to call there so Rachael could get money – Farnham can’t remember the reason, but remembers going there.

She was in her mother’s for a short time before driving to the Tesco Express with the intention of asking for directions to Hilperton Marsh.

Rachael went inside to ask for directions as “she had a better idea of the area” Farnham says.

They decided to go to the Bradford on Avon area to look for Farnham’s uncle. He confirms she was anxious about getting back to her daughter and mentioned it numerous times during the journey.

Farnham says they made efforts to find where his uncle might be at three pubs in Bradford on Avon, but as they made their way to a fourth pub they are arrested by police. “Your behaviour in the car ranged from shouting to the tearful,” Mr Binder says to Farnham.

That’s the end of the defence questioning Farnham, we’re now having a short break before the prosecution’s cross examination begins.

(Image: Google)

12:16

Farnham says he was "hysterical" in the car

Farnham says he had moved his belongings out of Rachael’s before the day of the incident as the relationship had deteriorated.

He says Rachael was in the flat when the violence begins. Farnham says she was on one of the sofas and was in very close proximity to the men.

Following the incident, Farnham says he knew Rachael was going to call an ambulance as he was saying it while he was by Tashan.

He says the next time he saw Rachael was outside the block of flats after he had seen Devon.

Farnham, who doesn’t drive and has never passed his driving test or held a licence, says he asked Rachael to drive him away.

I did request she drove me away and she would have felt obliged to do so. I was covered in Tashan’s blood and it would have been a scary situation for her.

He says he doesn’t remember grabbing her by the arm, but he accepts it. He says he wanted her to hurry up.

She went home to get her car keys as Farnham waited by the car. She then returns and they get in the car and then they drive off. Farnham says he was “hysterical” at that point.

11:59

"It didn't make any sense"

Farnham saw two wounds bleeding from Tashan on his torso. He says he pulled back his top and says “there was a lot of blood” and it had pooled around him.

He tells the court he tried to help Tashan by putting pressure on the wounds, but he soon realised he couldn’t do any more for him.

He says he left the scene as he was scared and panicked. “It didn’t make any sense.”

Farnham repeats that he didn’t do it deliberately. He says he pushed his sister over – he has pleaded guilty to assault for this. He has also pleaded guilty to two offences that arose from his arrest.

Mr Harrington reminds Farnham of the journey following the incident at Selworthy House. Rachael took him to Trowbridge and then to Bradford on Avon, where he was arrested.

He says he asked advice of lawyers before his police interview and he was told to say no comment.

Farnham denies deliberately stabbing Tashan and Devon Corpe.

That is the end of the questioning from Mr Harrington, defending for Farnham. Mr Binder, who is defending for Rachael Smith, now questioning Farnham.

"It was an instant reaction, I was being attacked"

Devon was holding the knife down to his right hand side, according to Farnham, and he says he then “made a lunge for him and grabbed at his arm holding the knife”.

He says he grabbed Devon’s wrist with the knife in and he became aware of Tashan coming up the stairs with something in his hand. He thought it was a table leg or something like that.

“I felt it more than I seen it as he hit me on the shoulder,” Farnham says. “It was a heavy blow.”

He was still struggling with Devon at this point and the knife fell to the floor. He says he picked the knife up “it was an instant reaction, I was being attacked”.

He says Tashan landed two or three blows and Devon landed blows with his fist.

“I picked the knife up as they attacked me and I was being driven back into the flat. I didn’t know Devon had been stabbed.”

Farnham adds that he didn’t know Tashan had been stabbed as well. He says he accepts those injuries were caused while he had the knife in his own hand but he didn’t deliberately stab them.

He says he’s not sure how Tashan sustained three stab wounds. He says he accepts that they were caused while he had the knife in his hand.

Farnham tells the court he was driven back into the flat and says he didn’t know what happened to the knife. He was “in a daze” in the flat and then stepped back out.

He says he could see Tashan was on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He says Devon wasn’t there but he could hear him outside of Selworthy House.

11:34KEY EVENT

Farnham says Devon came at him with a knife

Farnham said Tashan punched him after he put Devon in a sleeper hold. The punch hit him on the cheek and Farnham punched Tashan back.

He says “of course” when he is asked if the mood changed. He said all of the men (including) Paul went for him. He ended up on the sofa.

He tells the court he suffered bruises to his face and a broken nose. He says he was bleeding from the nose. He says they were angry and he didn’t know where they were going when they left.

He says he tried to mop the blood from his shirt after the brothers left the flat.

Farnham confirms that Rachael Smith was at the flat. He says he can’t recall bottles and glass being thrown, as she had told police.

He says he could hear Devon’s voice outside Paul Thurston’s flat. Farnham says he opened the door rather than Paul Thurston opening it so “I didn’t have three of them coming at me”.

He tells the court he thought the incident was over, but when they came back he just wanted to get out. He didn’t look through the security spy hole as he knew who was there.

“I saw Devon outside the door, he was about half a step away as he had been banging on it. Tashan was just coming up the stairs to my right hand side.”

Farnham says Devon had a big knife in his right hand. He says it was a kitchen knife and that he was “scared” when he saw it. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he says.

I never gave him a chance to do anything with the knife.

11:20

“I was unsteady but I was aware of what was going on"

Farnham says he got to Paul Thurston’s flat about 20 minutes before Devon showed up. He says he was drinking a mix of whiskey and cider, he says “he was on his way” to being drunk.

I was unsteady but I was aware of what was going on.

He says he did take some drugs at the flat and had Valium that afternoon. Farnham says he did put Paul Thurston in sleeper hold, but he explains that the atmosphere was good and there were no tensions.

We were messing around drinking and Paul put me in a headlock. It was a playful thing.

I told Paul I could put him temporarily unconscious. After he put me in a headlock, I said to him I could put him in a headlock and put him to sleep. It was a jokey way.

I suggested it and he agreed. He was out for a few seconds. It was not as drastic as was being made out. He went out for a few seconds then came back around.

Farnham says he then did the same thing to Devon as he asked him to, he tried to do the sleeper hold but it did not succeed. He says Devon was pushing back. He explains it was not a hostile action and he did not intend to cause any pain.

11:13

The night before the incident

Farnham tells the court he went out the night before the incident and drank some beer and shots. He also says he took cocaine and is a habitual drug user.

He returned home at 5-6am in the morning but received a frosty reception from his former partner Rachael Smith. He woke up around 1.30pm-2pm. He said he was woken up by Devon Corpe.

He says he had known Devon and Tashan for three-four months and describes them as “friends”. He says the same about Paul Thurston.

He would see them three or four times a week and they would do drugs together – but they wouldn’t drink usually. He would go to their flat or they would come to Rachael’s place.

Farnham says he hadn’t had a cross word, bad feeling or violence with the others until August 13.

Devon came to Rachael’s house and Farnham shouted out the window at him. He says Rachael was frosty with him as Farnham had woken her up, so he went back to bed.

10:55

Josh Farnham called to give evidence

Josh Fanham, who is accused of Tashan Corpe’s murder, will now give evidence. He is wearing a mint green t-shirt and jeans.

He says he was born and brought up in Bath.

He says he was together with Rachael Smith. He said it was up and down relationship and they were living together at 40 Sedgemoor Road – the same road as Selworthy House.

10:54

Ready to get going again

Justice Simler has returned and the defendants are in the dock, we’re just waiting for the jury to come back in and we’ll be ready to get back underway.

10:27

The prosecution case concluded

Mrs Vigars finishes reading the agreed facts of the case and says that is the conclusion of the crown’s case.

The jury have been given a five minute break while details are clarified between the defence and prosecution.

10:11

Agreed facts handed out

Mrs Vigars begins by reading out agreed facts to the jury.

After being told his brother had died, Devon Corpe said: “I’m going to kill someone then”. He then went and picked up a meat cleaver, but PC Elliott said he did not feel threatened and was able to take the knife from Tashan Corpe’s brother.

On August 18, photos were taken from inside the flat where the fight broke out and glass shards were collected from the kitchen.

No keys to flat 49 (where Tashan and Devon lived) were found inside flat 51.

The flat keys in possession of Devon Corpe were handed to his father and then to the police on August 13.

A previous incident occurred between the defendant Josh Farnham and another man in a club on March 9, 2005. Farnham broke a glass and caused cuts to the face of another man. He pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty.